One of my favorite daily podcasts to listen to is ESPN Daily. It is a sports base podcast yes, but its focus is on deep dive storytelling. The stories behind sports. From their description:
Wake up to the best sports story you'll hear all day. Monday through Friday, we bring you an inside look at the most interesting stories at ESPN, as told by the top reporters and insiders on the planet. The breaking news of SportsCenter. The deep dive storytelling of 30 for 30. Get the very best of ESPN. Daily.
Today, the book world and the sports world overlap with this story on ESPN Daily:
The Seattle Kraken BookTok Hockey Romance Controversy, Explained
The Seattle Kraken are the NHL’s newest expansion team, and from their inception, they’ve done things a little differently. Case in point: their social media approach. Back in the spring during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Kraken’s TikTok account was discovered by BookTok. If you’re now asking yourself, “what is BookTok?” – you’re not alone. BookTok is a community on TikTok which is comprised of creators and readers discussing all things books. BookTok embraced the Kraken, and the Kraken started posting videos that specifically targeted BookTok. The moment represented two niche fandoms coming together…and it seemed like the end of the story…until last week, when things took a bit of a turn.
If this story sounds a bit absurd so far, stay with us: it actually touches on some of the biggest issues in sports, social media, literature…and objectification. So today, Greg Wyshynski helps us explain the Seattle Kraken BookTok hockey romance controversy…and he tells us what happens when the worlds of fiction, online fandom…and real-life athletes…collide.
You can listen anywhere you get your podcasts, but whether or no you click through, you need to know this is happening. Why? Because you will be getting a lot of questions in the coming days about Hockey #BookTok.
ESPN Daily always ties their podcasts to their longer journalism. They will have a print story on their digital platforms and will feature the reporter of this story on various shows on ESPN the channel. People who do not usually get book news in their daily lives, will have a story about books in front of their faces. In fact, you can click here for news stories from all of the major media outlets about the situations that is outlined in the podcast.
First things first, you should already know this but, Hockey Romance is a popular subgenre. Click here for lists of books to see how popular it really is. And with Hockey Romance in the news, you should definitely consider pulling books for a display and making a list of Hockey Romances that you have available on Overdrive for people to download.
But, that is only the headline here. There is SO MUCH MORE that you need to be aware of. Please listen to this story because they interview a Hockey Romance author and she tried to warn the Kraken that catering to the Hockey #BookTok was going down a bad path. And of course, she was correct.
Here is a quick summary of what you, the library worker, need to know.
The Kraken pandered to the thirst trap #BookTok community and now a player is being sexually harassed and his wife attacked for asking people to stop objectifying her husband. There are videos about this player as a sex object and the team nurtured this without realizing it.
Most of the Hockey Romance readers-- many of who have been reading these books for 30 years-- have been embarrassed by a small group of #BookTokers. They are upset that their favorite subgenre has now been corrupted and is causing harm to actual hockey players. Readers don't want to read it and be associated with "those people," and authors are delaying books because they don't want them used by bad actors. It is a big mess, one that will intersect with our work.
This episode provides a nuanced discussion about Hockey Romance being taken over by #BookTok and the consequences for writers, readers, and players. It is a thoughtful discussion about sexual harassment. And it is important for us, as we lean on #BookTok as a resource, to listen and learn.
Yes, we should follow #BookTok to know what is trending and make sure we have books and displays, but these viral situations can also quickly spiral out of control.
Hockey Romance fandom is fun and joyful. It is well established. And because of this current event, you may be hearing about a darker side of it all.
This episode is only 28 minutes long. I urge you to listen and then afterwards, think about how we use viral sensations to promote books. I am not saying you should stop, but I am saying you need to take a minute-- well in this case take 28 minute-- to learn and understand the larger picture.
At the very least, I have alerted you as to why you are getting Hockey Romance questions in greater numbers.
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